Visiting the Voortrekker Monument: A Complete Guide

Visiting the Voortrekker Monument is something I’ve been lucky enough to do on a few occasions in my life.

When I was young, my dad moved out to South Africa and one of my earliest memories of the country was a visit to see this granite colossus that stands proudly over the city of Pretoria.

At the time I remember being fascinated by a small hole in the ceiling that was cleverly designed to let the sun’s rays shine through it on only a certain day of the year. Amazing the things we latch on to as children.

That day of the year is the 16th of December and the light shines through onto the Cenotaph to commemorate the Battle of Blood River and the lives of the Voortrekkers.

In this post, I bring you a complete guide to the Voortrekker Monument that will help you plan out your visit.

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Visiting the Voortrekker Monument

What are the opening hours?

The Voortrekker Monument opens from 0800-1700 in winter and 0800-1800 in summer.

• Winter Hours: (1st May to 31st Aug) 0800-1700 daily
• Summer Hours: (1st September to 30th April) 0800-1800 daily
• The Voortrekker Monument is closed on the 25th December.

How much does it cost to visit the Voortrekker Monument?

R95 per person and R15 heritage fee for a car (from 1st March 2020).

• Adults: R95
• Families (parent/s with 3 own children under 18), vehicle included: Maximum R190
• Guide fee: R400

Do you need to book in advance to see the Voortrekker Monument?

For a standard self-guided visit, no you do not need to book in advance to see the Voortrekker Monument. It does keep busy at peak times such as weekends and public holidays, but you do not need to book in advance.

If you require a tour guide, it is suggested that weekend tours are booked in advance. Bookings take place from 0800-1600 Monday to Friday

More information can be found at VoortrekkerMonument.org

You can also book tours to the Voortrekker Monument that are combined with other destinations in the area such as the Cullinan Diamond Mine. Here are some examples which can be booked online.

Getting to the Voortrekker Monument

The Voortrekker Monument is less than 10km from the centre of Pretoria.

The easiest way to get the Voortrekker Monument is by car, but what are your options if you don’t have one available?

A taxi or Uber is the simplest and safest way to get here, a 10km ride will set you back about R100.

Can you park at the Voortrekker monument?

Yes, there is ample parking at the Voortrekker Monument.

Don’t park in the first car parks you see as these are for other functions that happen on the ground. Follow the road round, passing the museum on your right to find the main entrance on the other side, with much easier access.

Is the Voortrekker Monument kid friendly?

The Voortrekker Monument is child friendly and can be a great place to visit on those rarest of things, a rainy day in Gauteng.

It’s a great place to show kids some of the history of South Africa and there is a great cafe and gift shop to visit too. Just be aware there are lots of steps, though there is a lift to get to the upper floors.

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Visiting the Voortrekker Monument: A First-Hand Guide

My Highlights

• Discovering the intriguing story of the Voortrekkers.
• Having a bite to eat at Avokado Deli (damn I was hungry!).
• Marvelling at the cleverly designed dome which lets light in once a year to shine onto the cenotaph. This had fascinated me ever since we visited as kids.
• Seeing the 3 million stitch tapestry that took 9 women 8 years to make and is so well done it looks like a photograph!
• The world’s longest marble frieze which depicts scenes from the trek.

The Design of the Voortrekker Monument

The Voortrekker Monument stands like an ancient obelisk over the city of Pretoria.

Its vast, angular form looks out of place on the dry African hilltops; like a faraway alien race formed the beginning of a city but moved off before work was complete. It is completely alone on its pedestal surrounded only by the scrubby bushland and endless blue sky above.

Standing 80m tall, 60m square and made of pure granite this is a building that has been designed to last a LONG time!

Closer inspection gives over more subtlety, the four vast rectangular panels are infilled with wide arched windows and these infilled again by a triangular pattern weaved into stars amongst stone stacked columns.

On each corner of the square building stand massive statues of some of the key Voortrekker leaders; Andries Pretorius, Piet Retief, Hendrik Potgieter and an ‘Unknown Leader’ symbolising all the other Voortrekker leaders.

Parking Up

I pulled up to the car park outside, less worried about the architecture and more seeking somewhere to quench my now raging thirst.

The winter in Africa is dangerously dry; Zimbabwe its cousin to the North is now seeing crippling droughts move from 1 in 10 years to 3 in 5.

Whilst the heat today topped out at a gentle 22 degrees, the parched nature of the air is something that’s hard to describe, feeling like each breath is gradually turning your mouth from lake to desert. Everything seems completely devoid of moisture and I had managed to plan out my day in such a way as to avoid both breakfast and any refreshments on the way over from the Union Buildings and Freedom Park.

The Voortrekker Monument Restaurant (Avokado Deli)

I hopped out of the car and after having a look up the grand staircase towards the monument my eyes were drawn to something far less inspiring – plastic chairs. These could only mean one thing, the promise of refreshment. I shot up the lower part of the stairs in a scene somewhere between Ice Cold in Alex and Rocky 3.

My only fear was that it was closed. It was the middle of the day, the monument was busy, there were tourists everywhere – all signs suggesting a restaurant would do good trade – but this is Africa and logical thinking does not always pay off.

Thankfully though my prayers were answered and I was greeted by the very welcome entrance to Avokado Deli.

The World Needs More Hennies!

“This was South Africa in a microcosm; friendly, generous and with personalities big enough to charm even the coldest of hearts”

Inside was the cheery character of Hennie.

He was desperately trying to resolve the pedantic queries of one of the multiple American tourists amassed on site.

The woman was tall, with long limbs and her hair pulled back tight as if trying to remove the creases from her weather-beaten skin. She was clearly well-travelled but went about her business in the obnoxious and apathetic manner that is all too typical of tourists from the US. Speaking at a volume completely unnecessary for the situation, she was either trying to create a scene or completely unaware of how rude she was being.

It seems South African coffee was not up to her high tastes with strength, flavour and temperature all cited as reasons to go to battle. Using height to her advantage, she leant over the counter getting ever closer to the still smiling Hennie.

He resolved the situation with a heady mix of smiles, apologies and sarcasm, the last of which completely bypassed his friend from the USA but brought a broad smile to my dehydrated face.

He offered the lady another coffee for free, which put her into instant retreat.

This was South Africa in a microcosm; friendly, generous and with personalities big enough to charm even the coldest of hearts.

She walked off, his face continuing to beam out his rain stopping smile but his eyes suggested he was memorising her features for some voodoo ceremony later that evening.

I lined up my assortment of goodies on the counter – a litre of water, crisps, an ice cream – and then placed my order for a burger.

I wasn’t messing around here.

It had been a long morning exploring the Union Buildings and Freedom Park and my normal morning strategy of no breakfast had seriously backfired. He handed me my receipt and started chuckling.

“You’ll never believe it” he said “you’re order number 103 but you also owe me 103 Rand. That doesn’t happen much”.

The world needs more Hennies, if it did we’d all see the world through a more optimistic lens.

Entering the Voortrekker Monument

Dad had brought us here as a kid and I had flashes of memories but not many – a hole in the ceiling and some ox wagons was about as far as it stretched.

I seem to recall feeling forced to come up and visit many years ago but now, here I was with a free afternoon rocking up under my own steam. There’s no accounting for taste, but at least they are maturing; then I was disappointed to leave my Game Boy and copy of Zelda in the car, now making a conscious choice to come and visit. Despite numerous signs to the contrary, maybe I haven’t turned out too bad!

I passed a teenage rugby team on my way up posing for a group photo on the steps. Kitted out in blue and white tracksuits made of staticy, sweat-inducing man-made fibres that glistened in the sun. I assumed they were a touring team from the UK; an assumption made on skin colour alone – there was not a black face amongst them. Surely this could not be a team from a country where only 8% of the nation is white? I was wrong, they were from Pretoria. Whether this is a slight on the inclusivity of game of rugby or the city itself I’m not sure.

I made my way up through the first set of stairs getting ever closer to the entrance of the Voortrekker Monument.

64 Ox Wagons

The upper area is enclosed by a ring of 64 ox wagons built into the wall as if to protect the monument from attack.

They are only slightly three dimensional with the frames of the wagons sticking out a few inches from the wall itself. They each had two visible wheels, with the back being larger than the front like drag car racers. Every fourth car had a spotlight built into the cabin which were pointed back at the monument ready to bathe it in white light after the post-sunset darkness descended.

64 is the exact number of wagons that were used at the Battle of Blood River to form the laager.

The Hall of Heroes

“It seemed common sense to me, in the same way a sign for ‘no juggling flaming chainsaws’ was also unnecessary.”

Making my way through the doors felt akin to walking into some ancient cathedral in Rome.

The temperature instantly drops due to the coldness of the stone and the hushed noises from the crowd are surrounded by an endless reverberation that only comes from vast spaces. When compared to the kind of buildings we spend most of our times in; houses, offices, shops, buildings of this capacity are almost incomprehensible.

I got a quick photo from just inside the door worried that photos wouldn’t be allowed inside but – after showing my sticker at the desk – it seemed I hadn’t broken any bylaws with only ‘professional photography’ and ‘drones’ listed on the notice as being unacceptable. Signs like this always make me intrigued as to what prompted them in the first place. It must have been a specific incident, but who on earth brings a drone into a historic monument like this!? It seemed common sense to me, in the same way a sign for ‘no juggling flaming chainsaws’ was also unnecessary. But clearly someone at some point had decided drone flying in one of the most revered buildings in Southern Africa was a good idea.

Inside the Voortrekker Monument

“There is a certain irony that a building can be holding so much air and also take your breath away.”

The floorplan of the Voortrekker Monument is an almost perfect square but looking up offers that vertical immensity that gives me vertigo even though I am on ground level.

My brain kicks in and makes me unsteady, fearing the worst imagining every scenario where I could be that height from the ground. There is a certain irony that a building can be holding so much air and also take your breath away.

The great domed hall is bordered by a 92-metre marble frieze depicting scenes from the great trek of the Voortrekkers. There are 27 separate scenes and were designed by four separate artists, but despite this they are incredibly consistent.

It is believed to be the biggest frieze of its kind anywhere in the world.

Above the frieze on each side are giant arched windows yellow in colour, like the tobacco-stained ceilings of an old smoking room. They bring in enough light to make the entirety of the hall visible, but keep it dim enough that it is easy to draw comparisons with the great stain glass windows of British cathedrals.

The windows drew my eye up the convex self-supported dome with a tiny chink of light bouncing its way through the inside of a pipe-like gouge to the outside world (more on this later).

Looking up brought on that weird sense of ground-based vertigo again. I did the only logical thing and headed for an almost hidden corridor in the corner of the room with a spiral staircase noting ‘ascent only’.

Top Floor of the Voortrekker Monument

“People often say ‘health and safety is going mad’, right now I wish it’d shown a bit of insanity on the African continent.”

The view from the top was fantastic, straight down onto the concentric structure of the granite floor which draws the eye to its centre.

This revealed even further depth – another, lower level under which a large stone cenotaph was perfectly centred.

Well, I say they view was fantastic, I never really saw it first-hand.

My fear of heights has gradually accelerated over the years.

As a kid remember shooting up ladders cutting down the sour grape vines surrounding our house. Now I can barely even think of being at height without coming out in sweats. The whole way up the 15-floor spiral staircase I had recited ‘do one thing that scares you every day’ over and over again in my head for courage.

When faced with the top I froze.

If this structure was in Europe the edges would be encased in plastic giving you a complete feeling of safety. This being Africa the barrier between me and a 40-metre drop was a 4ft high concrete wall that most people were leaning over.

People often say ‘health and safety is going mad’, right now I wish it’d shown a bit of insanity on the African continent.

I inched towards the edge, held on tight, pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a few photos over the edge with my clammy, shaking hands. It was a wonder I drop the thing down to the granite floor below.

I retreated quickly, back down the staircase, stopping off at the various viewing points on the outside of the building that give sweeping vistas over Pretoria and Centurion. I carried on right down into the Cenotaph Hall, the level below the main hall.

Cenotaph Hall

“What an incredible piece of engineering. To design a small hole, bored thorough granite, at the exact angle to line up with the sun at an exact time on an exact day once a year.”

The memory of the Voortrekker Monument that sticks strongest in my mind from childhood is of a hole in the ceiling that shoots a beam of light down into the building once a year.

This clearly captured my imagination and still does.

Despite this it would be incredibly easy to miss for the casual observer. In a structure the size of this one the only mention of it is on a small display right beside the cenotaph:

‘Every year, on the 16 December (the same day as the Battle of Blood River, 1838) at twelve o’clock, a ray of sun shines through the opening in the dome, onto the cenotaph. The sunray symbolises God’s blessing on the life and aspirations of the Voortrekkers. The words on the cenotaph “Ons vir jou Suid-Afrika” (We for thee, South Africa) are from the poem by C.J. Langenhoven, Die Stem vad Suid-Afrika.’

What an incredible piece of engineering.

To plot a small hole, bored thorough granite, at the exact angle to line up with the sun at an exact time on an exact day once a year.

It’s not like you get multiple chances at something like that.

Cut the wrong hole 40 metres up and the entire roof needs replacing!

I looked through all the other displays at the monument including the separate room giving vast quantities of information about the construction but found no further mention of it.

Cenotaph Hall Voortrekker Tapestry

On the far wall of the Cenotaph hall is a tapestry celebrating the women of the great trek.

Containing 15 panels it took nine women eight years to stitch, after artist W.H. Coetzer had painted the scenes onto gauze.

It is said to contain 3 million stitches and must have been tedious work!

The embroidery is so good you would be hard pushed to notice that it is not a painting until you get close.

Plaster Moulds

Hidden away in their own separate display are the original plaster moulds that were sent away to Italy to form the marble frieze.

What was interesting about these was the additional information provided about each panel.

In the Hall of Heroes, there is a small brass plaque under each panel, but here a broader background is given.

The most interesting of these was under the mould which should a Voortrekker lady pulling at the leg of a Zulu who has his arm outstretched holding a torch. This frame was originally meant to show the Zulu swinging a baby by its leg bashing it into the ox-wagon wheel.

It was decided that this scene was too graphic and the baby was removed with the torch added.

Viewing it with that in mind you can see how it was a late change, as the anguish in the lady’s body language now seems out of place.

(You can see this picture above in the ‘Hall of Heroes’ section)

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Voortrekker Historical Background and Facts

Who were the Voortrekkers?

In the basement of the building is a museum describing the great trek and the construction of the monument. I took a few notes and have picked out some small highlights below, but if you want more of a history read this fantastic piece on the SA History website

The Voortrekkers are Boers; descendants of the early Dutch settlers in the Eastern Cape in the 1700s. The area was originally controlled by the Dutch East India Company but after various engagement between 1795 and 1803 the colony was ceded to the British crown in 1814.

After the Napoleonic wars, unemployment had become a massive problem in Britain. In 1820, encouraged by the Government, various groups emigrated to colonies around the world, including nearly 4,000 to the Cape Colony.

This, amongst a host of other reasons, led to the Boers looking for new places to farm and in 1835, 12,000-14,000 Voortrekkers (Dutch word for pioneers, literal meaning ‘fore-pullers’) started out on the great trek east across the Orange River and through the Drakensberg Mountains.

This led to the formation of new Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State which along with the British republics would later go on the form the South Africa we know today (see my article on the The Union Buildings).

Along the way, they settled in various places but also found themselves in conflict with the local tribes, the most significant of which were the Zulus. Led by King Shaka (a man so infamous he now has a restaurant named after him in Camden Market) the Zulus were also on a course of expansion, conquering neighbouring tribes to increase their power. After Shaka was killed by assassins in sent by his brother Dingane in 1828 and he then assumed the throne.

Dingane met with Piet Retief, leader of the Voortrekkers in 1837. As a reward for recovering some stolen cattle Dingane signed over some Zulu land for the Voortrekkers to settle on (though this is disputed, as the King was unlikely to be able to read and the Zulus do not believe in the concept of land ownership). In 1938 after being invited to a feast the king had Retief and his party killed. In a scene reminiscent to an episode of Game of Thrones they were asked to leave their weapons outside as a mark of respect. After many rounds of feasting and dancing the chief jumped up and shouted Bambani aba thakathi! (Catch the wizards!) and they were dragged away to a nearby hill and butchered. The whole scene is set out in this eyewitness account.

The following week Dingane sent warriors to kill the remaining 500 Voortrekkers in the area in the Weenen Massacre. In total 41 men, 56 women and 185 children were killed as well as another 250 Khoikhoi and Basuto that accompanied them. Andries Pretorius was one of the few survivors of the massacre.

The key battle was in December 1938, the aforementioned Battle of Blood River, key elements of which are remembered at the monument.

The light that shines onto the cenotaph only comes through on 16^th December every year, which is the anniversary of the battle, and the 64 ox-wagons surrounding the building are the same number used at Blood River. Andries Pretorius led the Voortrekkers who, whilst being outnumbered (there were an estimated 80,000 Zulus to 470 Boers), used location and superior firepower to their advantage. Having pulled up their wagons into an impenetrable laager the Voortrekkers fought off the Zulus with canons brought up from the Cape.

An estimated 3,000 Zulus were killed with no casualties on the Boer side.

When was the Voortrekker Monument built?

The Voortrekker Monument was officially inaugurated on December 16th 1949.

Around 12 years. The foundations were laid in 1937 and the cornerstone put down on 16 December 1938.

Who designed the Voortrekker monument?

Gerard Moerdijk was the architect.

How many steps are there at the Voortrekker Monument?

Approximately 337. 130 leading up to the entrance, 169 from the Hall of Heroes to the top floor and 38 from the Hall of Heroes down Cenotaph Hall

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Further Reading

• The famous tapestry of the Voortrekker Monument
• Voortrekker Monument FAQs
• The Voortrekker History Website
  • The Chronology of the Voortrekkers
• SA History -> Britain take control of the Cape
• The Union Buildings, Pretoria
• Where To Go On Safari In Africa
• The Blue Crane Restaurant, Pretoria

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